28 May Fay Sharpe recognized as a top U.S. law firm by Forbes

Fay Sharpe has been recognized by Forbes as a top U.S. law firm in the Forbes “Legal Black Book,” which is a compendium of elite law firms recognized for providing critical legal services to major U.S. and global companies. The methodology for selection is based on a law firm’s track record of providing outside counsel to top corporations, practice area range and focus, and high rankings for quality of execution in multiple reviews. The list includes law firms of all sizes.

In addition, Fay Sharpe partner Steven Haas will make an appearance in the May 25 issue of Forbes. Haas is among the intellectual property experts quoted in the Legal Black Book article, titled “Are patents losing presumption of validity?”

The article addresses the ways in which a case presently before the U.S. Supreme Court could impact the legal validity of patents moving forward, depending on the Supreme Court’s ruling. In Commil v. Cisco Systems, Commil accused Cisco of inducing users to infringe a patented method for implementing short-range wireless networks. Cisco denied the claim and won on appeal, paving the way for the case to appear before the U.S. Supreme Court.

If the Supreme Court upholds the ruling, it could have a profound impact on whether patents are presumed valid in future court rulings.

In the article, Haas notes that, depending on the Supreme Court’s ruling, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Inter Partes Review might take on a greater role in determining the validity of patents.

“(The Supreme Court) may choose to keep induced infringement intact and say the IPR is a great new streamlined procedure to go through if you really think the patent is invalid,” Haas told Forbes.

To read the entire article on the top US law firms, click here: www.forbescustom.com/SectonPDFs/Patents_Law.pdf